Article and method for manufacturing same

ABSTRACT

An article includes a substrate; and a color layer deposited on the substrate, wherein the color layer has an L* value between about 28 to about 32, an a* value between about −1 to about 1, and a b* value between about −1 to about 1 in the CIE L*a*b* color space.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. Nos. 13/010,957, 13/010,693, 13/010,975, entitled “ARTICLE ANDMETHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME”, by Zhang et al. These applications havethe same assignee as the present application and have been concurrentlyfiled herewith. The above-identified applications are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The exemplary disclosure generally relates to articles and methods formanufacturing the articles.

2. Description of Related Art

Vacuum deposition is used to form a thin film or coating on housings ofportable electronic devices, to improve abrasion resistance. However,typical vacuum deposition can not deposit absolute black coatings on thehousing.

Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with referenceto the following drawings. The components in the drawings are notnecessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed uponclearly illustrating the principles of the exemplary embodiment of anarticle and method for manufacturing the article. Moreover, in thedrawings like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views. Wherever possible, the same referencenumbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or likeelements of an embodiment.

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment ofan article.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a magnetron sputtering coating machine formanufacturing the article in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of an article 10manufactured, by a coating process, such as by vacuum deposition, andincludes a substrate 11, a bonding layer 13 deposited on the substrate11 and a color layer 15 deposited on the bonding layer 13 opposite tothe substrate 11. The article 10 may be a housing of an electronicdevice. The substrate 11 may be made of metal, glass, plastic orceramic.

The bonding layer 13 is formed between the substrate 11 and the colorlayer 15 for improving the binding force between the substrate 11 andthe color layer 15. The bonding layer 13 may be made of titanium. Thebonding layer 13 has a thickness ranging from about 0.01 micrometers toabout 0.1 micrometers, and in this exemplary embodiment has a thicknessof about 0.05 micrometers. The bonding layer 13 in this exemplaryembodiment has a color that does not affect the color of the color layer15, such as silver, white, or gray.

The color layer 15 is a titanium aluminum oxide-carbon layer. The colorlayer 15 has an L* value between about 28 to about 32, an a* valuebetween about −1 to about 1, and a b* value between about −1 to about 1in the CIE L*a*b* (CIE LAB) color space, so the color layer 15 isabsolute black. The color layer 15 has a thickness ranging from about0.3 micrometers to about 1 micrometer.

A method for manufacturing the article 10 manufactured by vacuumdeposition may include at least the following steps.

A substrate 11 is provided. The substrate 11 may be made of metal,glass, plastic or ceramic.

The substrate 11 is pretreated. For example, the substrate 11 may bewashed with a solution (e.g., alcohol or acetone) in an ultrasoniccleaner, to remove, e.g., grease, dirt, and/or impurities. The substrate11 is then dried. The substrate 11 may also be cleaned using argonplasma cleaning. The substrate 11 is retained on a rotating bracket 50in a vacuum chamber 60 of a magnetron sputtering coating machine 100.The vacuum level of the vacuum chamber 60 is adjusted to 8.0×10−3 Pa.Pure argon is fed into the vacuum chamber 60 at a flux of about 300Standard Cubic Centimeters per Minute (sccm) to 600 sccm from a gasinlet 90. A bias voltage is applied to the substrate 11 in a range from−300 to −800 volts for about 5 to about 10 min. The substrate 11 maythen be washed by argon plasma, to further remove any contaminants.Thus, the binding force between the substrate 11 and the color layer 15is enhanced.

The bonding layer 13 is deposited on the substrate 11 by magnetronsputtering. The temperature in the vacuum chamber 60 is adjusted to bein a range from 50 degrees Celsius (° C.) to 180° C., i.e., the reactiontemperature is about 50 to about 180° C.; argon is fed into the vacuumchamber 60 at a flux from about 10 sccm to about 200 sccm from the gasinlet 90, i.e. the reaction gas for depositing the bonding layer 13 isargon. The speed of the rotating bracket 50 is adjusted to be in a rangefrom 1 revolution per minute (rpm) to 4 rpm. A titanium target 70 in thevacuum chamber 60 is evaporated at a power from about 5 kW to about 11kW and a bias voltage is applied to the substrate 11 in a range fromabout −50 to about −200 volts for about 3 min to about 10 min, todeposit the bonding layer 13 on the substrate 11.

The color layer 15 is deposited on the bonding layer 13 by magnetronsputtering. The temperature in the vacuum chamber 60 is kept betweenabout 50° C. to about 180° C., i.e., the reaction temperature is about50° C. to about 180° C. The argon is continuously fed into the vacuumchamber 60 at a flux from about 100 sccm to about 200 sccm from the gasinlet 90. Oxygen is fed into the vacuum at a flux from 15 sccm to 20sccm and ethylene is fed into the vacuum at a flux from 15 sccm to 20sccm from the gas inlet 90, i.e, the reaction gas for depositing thecolor layer 15 is ethylene and oxygen. The substrate is rotated about 1rpm to about 4 rpm. The titanium target 70 and a aluminum target 80 inthe vacuum chamber 60 are simultaneously evaporated at a power fromabout 5 kW to about 11 kW; a bias voltage is applied to the substrate 11is in a range from about −50 volts to about −200 volts for about 10 minto about 60 min, to deposit the color layer 15 on the bonding layer 13.

The color layer 15 is absolute black which has an L* value between about28 to about 32, an a* value between about −1 to about 1, and a b* valuebetween about −1 to about 1 in the CIE L*a*b* (CIE LAB) color space.

To form the color layer 15 in the above exemplary embodiment, thetitanium target 70 and the aluminum target 80 are employed, and byadjusting the flux of the reaction gas, i.e., adjusting the flux ofethylene and oxygen, to change the composition of the color layer 15. Sothe color of the color layer 15 has an L* value between about 28 toabout 32, an a* value between about −1 to about 1, and a b* valuebetween about −1 to about 1 in the CIE L*a*b* (CIE LAB) color space,thereby an absolute black colored article is produced.

It is to be understood, however, that even through numerouscharacteristics and advantages of the exemplary disclosure have been setforth in the foregoing description, together with details of the systemand function of the disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, andchanges may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, andarrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the fullextent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which theappended claims are expressed.

What is claimed is:
 1. An article, comprising: a substrate; a bondinglayer formed on the substrate, the bonding layer being a titanium layerconsisting of Ti; and a color layer deposited on the bonding layer, thecolor layer is a titanium aluminum oxide-carbon layer, wherein the colorlayer has an L* value between about 28 to about 32, an a* value betweenabout −1 to about 1, and a b* value between about −1 to about 1 in theCIE L*a*b* color space.
 2. The article as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe color layer has a thickness ranging from about 0.3 micrometers toabout 1 micrometers.
 3. The article as claimed in claim 1, wherein thebonding layer has a thickness ranging from about 0.01 micrometers toabout 0.1 micrometers.
 4. The article as claimed in claim 1, wherein thesubstrate is made of metal, glass, plastic or ceramic.